Bad Blue Betrayal
by 22b
Summary: Thirteen-year old Chitose Tonbo always yearned for the absolute trust of her older sister Rei. As both sisters go about their lives in the Human Village, Chitose's yearning for Rei's trust becomes an urge. How far will Chitose go to appease her sister?
1. Chapter 1

Bad Blue Betrayal

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><p><strong>Tutorial + Author's Note – Bad Blue Betrayal<strong>

WARNING!This fan-fiction is written in **1****st****-Person**. However, just because it is written in this way does not mean that it will be in the viewpoint of one character. To avoid confusion, please pay attention to the character name under the "Player" mark. Please note that the characterization of any character from Touhou Project, a bullet-curtain game series created by ZUN of Team Shanghai Alice, is not accurate.

For a more musical reading experience, enter "y-o-u-t-u-b-e" and then followed by the URL's code on any "BGM's" located throughout the story.

All characters, locations, music, and some dialogue are completely and utterly ZUN's property; I do not own ANYTHING besides the OC villagers and the two main characters.

Respective music is owned by their respective owners as well, please support them as well!

Thank you for reading my story!

- 22b

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><p>BGM – The Summer of a Young Dragonfly .comwatch?v=M3Dh-w4WUKU&list=PL12E6949F7E6AB921

Player: Chitose Tonbo  
>World: Gensokyo<br>Location: Tonbo Family House, Human Village  
>Time: 5:50 AM<p>

My eyes sprang open as I heard Rei's chanting from the right side of my futon. My brain was not quite awake yet and I lurched over on my right shoulder to see my older sister, who was doing what she usually did on a typical morning, spirit channeling. Rei was a petite girl like me who wore a pure white dress with a faded gray design of a fierce mountain hawk etched into its back. Rei's dress was probably my favorite part about her attire as it looked comfortable and it also modestly reached down to her knees. The color of her long hair was on the borderline between brown and black as the early morning light illuminated it in a clash of brown highlights. She sat cross legged with her sharp looking eyes clenched shut and had both of her hands outstretched as if she were welcoming an invisible force. Her mouth was slightly open and from it, she was chanting in a deep monotone voice.

"Munna... Munna... Munna..." Rei said as she raised her arms higher and higher into the air.

Rei's chanting made it almost impossible for me to fall back asleep as I was a light sleeper. In response to her chanting, I willingly lifted the upper part of my body and began to pry off the covers of my bedding to the side. With my hands guiding my thin blanket off of my body, I kept my gaze towards my sister as she continued her morning ritual. I smiled to myself because my favorite part of our morning ritual was about to begin after the overzealous chanting stopped.

As if answering my plea to do my favorite part in our spirit channeling ritual, Rei's chanting came to a sudden stop and she immediately opened her eyes. Dropping her arms from their raised stance, Rei immediately summoned two flickering blue flames about the size of an adult human hand that gently levitated around her. Those two flames were will-o-wisps, the energy of souls, living or dead, in physical form. By channeling these will-o-wisps every morning, we obtained energy to go about our everyday lives.

Rei and I needed some form of energy besides food to have the strength to do every day activities. Only one of us had to enter a séance if both of us were in relatively close proximity to each other. I remember how drained I felt when I was little when I forgot to do a séance when my sister was gone on one of her many trips outside of the human village. If I did not receive any spiritual energy through my body every morning, I wouldn't know what I would do.

"You always look so cool when you do that, you know?" I said as my sister lifted herself off of our tatami floor.

"I suppose it looks cool, with the will-o-wisps floating and all, but most importantly, it's the Tonbo way of life," Rei replied as she moved towards our house hearth that was in the southern corner of our room. As Rei walked across the room, her burning blue will-o-wisps mimicked her movement and followed their summoner. The almost invisible energy from the two will-o-wisps flowed into me and I felt my body become much lighter.

Ever since I was little, Rei made me promise her not to show the other villagers our spirit channeling power. I guess my sister didn't want us to look abnormal, so I followed her command. Spirit channeling was a heredity skill passed down by our unknown mother and father, who are still missing to this day. It feels like Rei and I were the only Tonbo's in Gensokyo for some odd reason. All of our clansmen seemed to just vanish into thin air. Every time I would ask Rei about our parents or our clan, she would always reply with a made-up story of a blue-crested gate with fantastic treasures lying behind it.

"Hey Chitose? Hello? Are you day dreaming this early in the morning?" Rei's voice called out, snapping me awake. I was still sitting down on top of my futon, blankly staring off into space.

I crawled upon my knees and began to fold my blanket in a simple crisp fashion, the same way that Rei had taught me so many years before. Just like any other summer day, it was going to be a busy around the village. I was still dressed in my spring green sleeping gown and my stomached yearned for breakfast. After piling my blanket atop my futon, I walked over to our hearth, hoping that Rei would let me cook breakfast for today.

"Umm... Rei?" I shyly questioned as my arms meekly folded behind my back.

"Yes Chitose?" Rei said as she was lighting the grill by motioning one of the two will-o-wisps following her to embed itself within the ash.

"Can I cook breakfast this time? You've been cooking for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a long time and I just want to do it this once," I asked as my voice trembled. I already knew the answer to my question and it usually wa-

"No, Chitose. Let me take care of it," Rei replied as the flames from the will-o-wisp crackled from under our grill. A controllable blue flame emerged from our cooking station and its light reflected upon our faces. The fire felt warm, but not as hot as the stare Rei gave me when she turned around and picked up a cooking pan that was hanging on our nearby utensil hanger. That was her excuse all of the time when I tried helping her, even with simple tasks like buying dinner from the market or fetching water from our local well. Rei's excuses for not letting me work were sayings like "You're not big enough," or "When you get older," and let us not forget the ever popular, "Let your big sister do it for you." With all of her excuses of not letting me work around our house, it felt like she could not trust me, as if I were a burden to her.

Seeing that I would not be able to make any meals for the rest of my days at our house, I broke eye contact with Rei and stared at the lines within our green tatami mat. We were supposed to be sisters, we were supposed to have faith in each other. I could place my trust on Rei but what prevented her from putting her trust on me? My head was circulating with thoughts of why my own sister could not trust me with anything. Was I too stupid? I know I'm a little annoying at times, but was I too outspoken? Or could it be that we were not sisters at all?

Suddenly, I felt Rei's slender hand on my shoulder. Since she was a couple of inches taller than me, she lowered her head and looked at me with an endearing smile. "Chitose, are you alright? Breakfast is ready," Rei said and motioned to two white ceramic plates filled with eggs, salted tomatoes, and rice. I snapped myself out of my thoughts, walked over to the nearest plate, folded my legs under my body, and sat down. I was so lost in thought that I failed to hear the sizzling of eggs or the cutting of tomatoes, yeah, I definitely have to stop over thinking like that.

There were already two pairs of chopsticks placed neatly within the layers of rice. I quickly picked up my pair of chopsticks and began to eat Rei's cooking. As I took my first bite out of the salted tomatoes, Rei asked, "So what's your plan around the village for today Chitose?" I was very surprised by Rei's question. She never talked about what I did around the village.

"Oh, just the usual. I'm going to go help out wherever I can!" I optimistically shouted.

"I see," Rei said with her eyes focused downwards at her plate of rice. With her gaze still at her rice meshed with the yolk of the eggs she cooked, Rei questioned in a light tone, "So what exactly do you do when I'm not here?"

Huh? Rei never asks about my chores around the village. Could it be that she was finally noticing my tasks around here? Since there were still a large amount of tomatoes and rice embedded in the cheeks of my mouth, I placed both of my chopsticks in the palm of my right hand and began to mimic myself hammering a nail into an invisible plank of wood. Swallowing my food after air hammering, I then said, "Yesterday, I helped Ms. Kamishirasawa with replacing some rotten wood from the school's old balcony."

"You mean that balcony with all of those termites and spiders?" Rei asked with a painful expression.

"Yeah, that one," I clarified as I pushed one lump of rice towards the center of my plate. "I always liked insects ever since I was little so it didn't really bug me as much," I said.

I was studying Rei's face very closely to see if my words had any effect on how she treated me. To my surprise, her eyes were wide with realization and I had her full attention. "Chitose," Rei said as she finished the last chunk of rice from her plate, "You've been doing chores like this around the village for how long?"

"Ever since I graduated from the school. About a year, sister," I said as I too, finished the food from my plate as well.

"Well, I'm expecting you to cook breakfast, every day from now on alright?" Rei said with a sincere smile as she got up from the tatami floor, with her plate in tow.

Yes! I couldn't believe it! My sister... She actually trusts me with something now! Wait... Why was it only today that she changed her mind about trusting me? Oh well, no matter, maybe my hard work finally paid off.

The sides of my mouth felt like they were stuck in place, frozen in a smile. I probably had a goofy grin forming on the sides of my mouth but I didn't care on how ridiculous I looked. Never before was breakfast a serious business because I finally had at least some trust from Rei. I never felt so complete before, as if a longing in my heart was finally filled.

I sprang up from the tatami floor with my now empty plate and followed Rei to the wash basin we had in our room. The water in the basin was half full as Rei and I piled both of our dishes on top of each other. My hands immersed themselves within the warm water. I guess Rei used the other will-o-wisp to warm the water basin before we ate. We never really washed our dishes in the morning out of laziness or lack of time but today was an exception. I quickly grabbed a moist towel already in the basin and began to clean each dish in a clockwise motion. As I was washing Rei's dish, I looked at my sister's face as she was washing her hands within the clear water.

"Rei, thank you," I said with a polite bow as I finished washing her dish and began to clean mine.

Rei looked over at me and said, "You're coming of age now Chitose. Don't let me down alright?" She then dipped her hands into the water and jokingly splashed a few droplets at my face and then said, "We're sisters, our blood runs together like water, so I guess I have to rely on you more often, right?"

"Oh yes!" I chirped as I purposely dropped my white plate within the water, causing a small splash to hit Rei in the face. She wiped her face with the sleeves from her white dress and held me in a stern headlock.

"Hey!" I yelled as Rei dragged me from the water basin to our house mirror that was hanged on the wall nearest my futon. She positioned me so that both of our faces reflected in the mirror. With her cheek pressing against my face, my eyes were greeted by the smiling faces of the two Tonbo sisters. It only now occurred to me that I never washed my face or combed my hair yet this morning. While my sister's reflection displayed a young woman with long, neat, brunette hair, my reflection revealed a girl who had random outcroppings of light brown bed-head protruding out of the sides of her head. Though I loved the color of my light brown hair, I never really liked the medium length that it had. My hair never seemed to grow as it would never reach the collar of my navy blue day dress. Long hair like Rei's was seen around Gensokyo as a sign of beauty, while medium to short length hair was normally worn by young girls.

"That's pretty funny," Rei said as she tried patting my bedhead down, "Your hair just won't stay down!"

"If my hair was as long as yours, it wouldn't be so poofy in the morning, you know?" I replied with a slight frown. Maybe the reason why I was so bothered by my short hair was that the majority of the girls that appeared in the pictures Aya Shameimaru's news articles had long, beautiful hair. I was an avid reader of Aya's outrageous articles not for the biased descriptions that the tengu "reported", but for the pictures of Reimu Hakurei and Marisa Kirisame locked in an aerial fireball battle with almost surreal opponents.

I only had one article from Aya's Bunbunmaru Newspaper, but the pictures in it were enough to make me frequently question the shortness of my hair.

"C'mon Chitose, life isn't about having perfect hair like those magical girls you read about from Aya," Rei said as she clasped both of her hands over my head. "Even the best of us have bad hair days, that's why we buy ornaments like a gigantic ribbon for example-," my sister said as she imitated a certain shrine maiden's signature ribbon with her hands atop my head, "-to look as if nothing ever happened."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," I sighed as I forced a smile in the mirror. Bad hair or no bad hair, I had to get ready for my work around the village. I had to give it my all so I could show Rei that her little trust in me was not in vain.

"C'mon Rei, I have to get ready now," I said as I began to brush off Rei's hands.

"Your right, I almost forgot about the time," Rei replied.

I finally brushed off Rei's hands off my head and reached for my hairbrush that I kept beside my futon. I returned back to the mirror and began to vigorously comb the agonizing amounts of my light brown bedhead. As I was struggling with fixing my hair, Rei was already by our screen door that connected the village with our living quarters.

Rei never exactly told me what she did when she went outside the village on early mornings such as today. In the span of a week, Rei probably went outside the village three times. Every time she left the household, she always wore a blank expression, as if she were expecting to come across something in her travels. When Rei was not going outside the village, she worked part-time as cook whose specialty was one of the components of the breakfast we just ate; salted tomatoes.

"Alright Chitose, I'm going now. We're out of eggs and tomatoes, so can you buy some groceries later today?" Rei called out to me as she slipped on her shoes.

"I got it covered Rei, you can count on me," I said as I waved goodbye with my non-brushing hand.

Rei returned my farewell with a small bow and then she took a few steps outside the screen door. As if a random thought struck her mid-flight, Rei suddenly yelled, "Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Ms. Kamishirasawa gave me a letter yesterday as I came back from outside the village. She wrote that she wanted to speak with you before the day ends, so don't forget to see her today!"

"Alright, I won't," I replied as I ran through my comb through my hair. I wonder what Ms. Kamishirasawa wanted to talk with me about? I graduated from that school a year ago but I still found myself going back there. Did I pass? Hopefully there wasn't any mistake with my grades. In the middle of my thoughts, the screen door closed with a click and I was left all by myself in our household.

I probably spent a good eleven minutes combing down the rest of my hair; a new personal record. With a spring in my step, I moved towards the closet that Rei and I shared. I slid open the closet door to the right and my eyes were greeted by our hanging dresses, blue and white in color. Whatever was a white dress belonged to Rei while all of the navy blue dresses belonged to me. Since today looked like it was going to be a hot day, I grabbed one of my lighter dresses and went back to my futon.

I quickly took off my spring green sleeping gown and plopped in the space between my futon and my blanket. I then reached for my dress that I laid atop my futon and proceeded to put it on. The material felt light and loose against my body and it gave me a sense of being at least a little bit fashionable. It may not be as colorful as the floral dresses that a majority of the girls at the village would wear, but it was my own look. I went back to the mirror to preen myself one last time.

Spinning clockwise in a childish circle, my dress followed my body as I span. The blur of dark blue reminded me of the soothing fires of a will-o-wisp, which was the exact reason why all of my day clothing was dark blue. Wearing navy blue was my own secret way of telling anyone who saw me that I was a Tonbo, a spirit channeler. My hair was done, my clothes put on, and my stomach was content, so I was ready for the day. I opened the screen door at the entrance of our home, then put on my black shoes, and finally walked outside the door.

"You can count on me Rei!" I said aloud as I closed the screen door behind me, ready to make my sister proud.


	2. Chapter 2

BGM – Afternoon Moon .com/watch?v=Bz9Kb0KsOFU&feature=related

Player: Keine Kamishirasawa  
>World: Gensokyo<br>Location: Kamishirasawa School, Human Village  
>Time: 4:25 PM<p>

"Try it again Kenji'," I said to one of my young students as he was reciting some terms for practice before tomorrow's big quiz. He had to pass the quiz with at least a B in order to graduate like his brothers before him. I adjusted some of my weight from my legs to my hands as I awaited Kenji to recite some essential key words and to define them for me. This small, black-haired child, Kenji, was the youngest son of our village chief. He was a slow learner, so naturally his father shifted his attention to his brighter sons as they seemed to have more hope in leading the village. Even though Kenji lacked intelligence, the child made up his shortcomings with his determination.

I'm not the type of teacher who simply just teaches for a paycheck, I teach to better this village. This school is a public school for our youngest citizens; the children of all of the parents who lived here. I loved this village and all of its people so much that I self-appointed myself as a magical defender of this place against any youkai who decided to prey upon humans in the village. Another reason why I started a school here was to make the next generation of villagers educated and more talented than their parents before them. Nothing appeased me more than seeing my students flourish, but some students like Kenji needed a little work to straighten them out.

I am what you call a were-hakutaku. This term meant that I am human during the day, but when I am exposed to strong amounts of moonlight, I turn into a hakutaku, a mythical beast filled to the brim with knowledge. On moon-filled nights, I am granted with the wisdom of the entire Gensokyo embedded in my brain. I also have the power to hide history as a human and to create or change history as a hakutaku.

Since I am a hakutaku, a wise beast who also advises emperors and leaders, I was naturally drawn to Kenji's massive potential to lead due to his determination. I told the child that I would tutor him so that he would become a better leader than his brothers and just as I predicted it, the child wanted to get better, so he accepted my offer. For two months now I have been reviewing Kenji and my student seems to be getting better scores on tests with every session.

"Kenji," I repeated as I arranged my long white hair behind me, "Please try again."

"Y-Y-Yes Ma'am," Kenji replied in a small voice, his eyes pointed at the floor of the classroom. Was he nervous? He had ninety percent of all of the questions right before. Oh well, the exam was a written one, not really an oral one.

"Ms. Kamishirasawa?" Kenji said as he shuffled uncomfortably on his feet, "C-Can you just say the questions and I'll answer them? I can't really think when I have to ask myself the questions and answer them on the spot."

I got up from my kneeling position on the floor and said with a small grin, "Alright. Let's try your method then."

I took a breath and walked alongside the school's chalkboard that was placed on the northern wall. With my back turned from my pupil, I came up with exactly fifteen questions that may or may not be on tomorrow's exam. Some questions were of general knowledge that anyone who would graduate from my school would have to know to grow up to be an able-minded citizen. Other questions were just for fun and meant to give the boy some confidence as we went along the mini-quiz.

"Alright Kenji, we're going to go rapid-fire with these questions. I have fifteen questions and I expect you to get all of them right," I said as I faced Kenji and crossed my arms. "If you get these questions right, then you have a very high chance of passing with not a B, but an A, so don't be afraid alright?" I said as I gently placed my hand on his shoulder.

"O-Ok," Kenji replied as he awaited me to give him the first question.

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><p>Player: Keine Kamishirasawa<br>Time: 5:30 PM

I was exhausted as I plopped myself upon my teacher's desk at the very front of the classroom. Kenji's study session had just ended and the boy was retrieved by his mother. I rested the left side of my weary head upon my arms that I folded on top of one another. Who knew how tiring it was to ask a verbal practice quiz to an eleven year old boy? Well, at least Kenji got ninety-five percent of all of the questions right though, he only missed one so he should be fine for tomorrow's exam. With my eyes partially opened, I stared outside one of the few open windows in the classroom. A small part of my vision was obscured by several strands of my white hair, so I folded some of it behind my left ear. The village always looked so beautiful on late summer afternoons such as this one as the sun reflected its rays off of the brown rooftops of the houses below. The village's beauty reminded me that I am its caretaker, that I must protect all of the beautiful people living here.

From the circular window, I could also see four young girls sitting underneath the shade of a medium sized tree. With the falling orange sun at their backs, I recognized these girls as my students. In order of height, from shortest to tallest, their names were Kotomi, Meiru, Carina, and Ami. The four seemed to be in an engaging conversation as they pointed at a parchment of paper that the smallest girl held in the palm of her hands. Whatever was on that paper made these girls giggle and laugh with one another. If I only had tengu eyes, I could read what was the commotion all about. I could barely hear what the four girls were saying, but I managed to pick up the words, "Red-White."

Wait, Red-White? I quickly raised my head off of my arms in alarm and as a result, my small, blue, rectangular hat fell upon my desk in front of me. My hat was probably one of the more confusing parts of my attire as it looked like a cross between a bento box and a miniature house, but I still wore it proudly on my head for the historic, ancient writing that was embroidered on it in gold thread.

"Tch," I whispered as I crisply folded it and placed it back on the top of my head.

"Red-White" was a typical description to describe the shrine maiden of paradise, Remiu Hakurei. There was only one paper in all of Gensokyo that writes about magical people such as Reimu in such manner, it was a copy of Aya Shameimaru's Bunbunmaru Newspaper. That sort of material would turn the brains of my precious students into mush with all of its outrageous storytelling and bad grammar. I could not allow that document to be passed around the youth!

I quickly ran outside of the classroom to take the girls' copy of the Bunbunmaru Newspaper. With the red ribbons placed on my shoes becoming undone and my blue-white dress rippling behind me, I probably did not look that very teacher-like. Now that I think about it, I do look a little young to be a teacher as being a were-hakutaku drastically slows down my age. Most parents often mistake me for being a student rather than the teacher of my own school.

I was outside the school now, still running in a frantic pace. My students have never really seen me run in such a way before, so I guess that explained their confused expressions as I approached them.

"Girls-," I sighed as I pointed to the document that the shortest girl, Kotomi, held in her right hand, "-the things in that article aren't meant for bright students like yourselves. Please give it to me," I said as I outstretched the palm my left hand towards them.

"But Teacher!" The tallest girl, Ami, replied in a loud voice, "We're not really reading the stuff in this newspaper. We're just looking at all of the wonderful pictures that the publisher has in here." Ami then pried the paper from Kotomi's hands, put the article in plain view of me, and pointed to a colorful picture of Reimu Hakurei dodging a hailstorm of scarlet red bullets from a cynically laughing Remila Scarlet, the mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. This picture was taken during the red mist incident when the vampire youkai, Remila Scarlet, blanketed the entire Gensokyo within a crimson fog so she could go flowering watching during the day. As a result of her actions, Reimu and her friend Marisa Kirisame, the ordinary black magician, went out to the Scarlet Devil Mansion and stopped her. This picture was a testament to that fateful encounter between the shrine maiden and the vampire.

"I have to admit, that is a nice picture," I said as I nodded my head in agreement. "Just promise me that you won't believe everything that Aya puts in there, okay? The last thing this village needs are young people filled with the lies of wisecracking birds," I said with a stern face.

"Don't worry Ms. Kamishirasawa," said the second tallest girl, Carina, with a sincere smile,"The pictures in this newspaper really makes us want to meet Reimu and Marisa! They're our favorite magical girls since their always so brave, right?" Carina said to her friends and me. With a large smile, the Carina's three friends all replied with a loud, "Yes!"

"Hey you guys," the second shortest girl, Meiru, suddenly said amidst their shouting. Meiru forcibly took the now worn-out copy of the Bunbunmaru Newspaper from Ami's hands and said, "Let's play a game where we act out what happened in the pictures of this article!" The energy of these girls was simply overwhelming as they all jumped around with eagerness to play Meiru's new game.

"Just be careful as you play and don't be so rough!" I warned them as I walked back to the school.

"Yes Ma'am!" my students shouted as I left them to their little game. As I approached the entrance balcony to the classroom, I heard Kotomi's voice from afar saying, "We should call this game Red-White!"

How cute, my students were looking at Reimu and Marisa as role models! Suddenly an odd chill went past my spine as I suddenly remembered a rumor that was spread around the village. Rumor had it that Reimu was nothing but a lazy bum while Marisa was nothing more than as a golden-eyed thief. Shaking my head in disdain at the rumors, I looked at a small pocket watch that I kept at the hem of my dress to see what time it was. Pulling out my pocket watch in a serene fashion, the clock's black hands told me it was around 6 o'clock. This was the time I was to be expecting one of my previous students to arrive at the school for a little chat.

Leaning against the new wood that acted as a railing on the school's balcony that Chitose Tonbo replaced a day before, I quietly surrounded myself in my thoughts as I awaited my guest to arrive. Yesterday, I gave a letter to one of my previous students, Rei Tonbo, that had a message, that I wished to speak to her younger sister about an odd dream I had two days ago, during a foggy summer night.

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><p><strong>Two Days Ago<strong>

During that foggy night, I was at school late after grading a good portion of my student's projects about my favorite topic, the history of Gensokyo. Even though I was motivated enough to grade all of these history reports, I was probably more tired than I thought I was, and I slipped in and out of consciousness. The last thing I remembered before receiving that strange dream was that I felt the familiar horns of my hakutaku form on the top of my head. I guess a stray beam of moonlight pierced through the fog and somehow hit me in my classroom as I sat in my chair grading papers. What followed my sudden transformation was one of the stranger things that I have ever seen before in a dream.

_All I could see was darkness as I was floating aimlessly in some unknown space. The air felt cold and I could see my breath escaping my mouth in short streams of gray fog. I was unable to talk, move, or even blink, the only actions I could do were limited down to seeing and listening. My arms were statically pressed against my body and my legs felt as if they were bound by iron chains. Suddenly, a colossal gate appeared before me._

_The gate looked menacing as it silently watched me with its stony gaze. There were strange characters on the sidings of the door of a language that I could faintly understand. It was an old language used by human spirit channelers in Gensokyo, but the name of their clan escapes me. What made the gate so frightening however was that it felt like something was on the other side. I could feel a great power sealed away behind this gate and I hoped that it would never come out._

_There was a person walking towards the gate, a young girl. This girl, it was Chitose Tonbo, one of my students who graduated last year! This Chitose... There was something strange about this Chitose. She still wore her navy blue dress that flowed down to her knees but she was missing her trademark determined grin. Her hair was still the same length as it barely reached the collar of her dress, but the color of her hair radically changed; it was as white as snow. There were black bags under her eyes and she was surrounded by three blue flames._

_What was that child doing?_

_I struggled against my invisible bonds with my now green highlighted white hair floating around me. Even in this dream, I was still in hakutaku form. I could feel the savage history that the gate radiated out from within its inner most chambers; it was a history full of violence and treachery. I had to get Chitose away from that gate! As I was struggling, my student was already at the foot of the gate with her hands touching its stone surface. The three azure flames following Chitose flickered and placed themselves within the indents of gate and to my horror, the gate suddenly opened. As the gate slowly creaked open, Chitose's sad eyes met mine and she whispered a couple of inaudible words._

I awoke in the real world, drenched in sweat. Was that dream about the history of the future? Or was it a dream about a past event that already happened once before? I reclined in my chair and wiped some of my sweat from my forehead. I was no longer in hakutaku form and the horns that were previously on my head in my dream vanished as if my transformation never happened. My rectangular hat had fallen on the ground so I picked it up, dusted it off, and placed it back on my head.

"I can't take any chances," I pondered to myself as I began writing a letter to Rei Tonbo, the sister of the child that I wished to speak with in the future.

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><p><strong>Present Day<strong>

Player: Keine Kamishirasawa  
>Time: 7:49 PM<p>

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><p>"Hey! Ms. Kamishirasawa!" a light voice called out to me on the balcony. I was still engrossed in my thoughts so I ignored it.<p>

"Ms. Kamishirasawa?" the voice said again as I my mind slowly shifted its attention to my visitor. Rubbing my eyes with my hands, I returned to reality and looked at the girl who was calling my name. She was as tall as me and she had medium length auburn hair that gently levitated above her collar bone. Her eyes were light brown as well as they looked at me with a questionable expression. Most girls around the village during summertime would wear lightly colored floral dresses because of the intensity of the sun, but this girl was wearing a navy blue dress that flowed all the way down to knees, just like the length of her sister's dress. There's no doubt about it, this girl was Chitose Tonbo.

"Ah, Chitose," I said to my alumni student with a small yawn, "I must apologize for my drowsiness."

"Don't worry about it," Chitose said with a relaxed expression. "So, how are you Teacher?" my student said with a hand gesture motioned towards me.

"I'm just a little tired, that's all. Just some tutoring and a little lecturing here and there," I said as I sat atop the wooden railing of the school's balcony. I noticed that our time for talking with each other was going to be cut short because the sun was already on our horizon. I didn't want a thirteen year old girl to be walking home in the dark, so I decided to cut to the chase and immediately talk to her about my dream.

"Well, I bet you're wondering why I wanted to speak with you today, huh?" I asked as my previous student joined me in sitting on the railing. As Chitose shifted her body on to the wooden railing, I noticed that she suddenly had a fearful expression upon hearing my last words.

"I-It's not about my grades, is it?" the blue-garbed girl questioned in a quivering voice.

"No, no, it's not about your grades," I comforted her as the thoughts from my dream resurfaced themselves within my mind, "You haven't been opening any gates have you?"

"Gates?" Chitose said as her eyes opened in slight shock.

"Well... There was a gate in this dream I had. Please listen to my story Chitose. Hopefully you can make any sense out of it," I said.

I leaned closer to Chitose, running my fingers through her skinny strands of light brown hair. "I first saw an enormous gate with the ancient writing from a clan that had long since perished. There was something behind that gate, I couldn't see it, but I could feel something ominous. Then...Then I saw you," to which my student hastily replied, "M-Me?"

"Yes, or so it looked like you. First off, you had white hair like mine-"

"No way!" Chitose stammered as she clutched her hair with both of her hands. "W-W-What are you talking about Teacher! White hair!" she said as her body uncontrollably rocked back and forth.

"I'm not trying to scare you Chitose, just listen to me!" I commanded as Chitose slowly returned back to normal.

As soon as Chitose calmed down, I continued, "-And secondly, you opened that huge gate by inserting three blue flames within the holes on the gate, causing it to open."

"B-Blue flames?" Chitose said.

"Yes. Do you know anything about that Chitose?" I asked.

The only type of blue fire that existed in Gensokyo were the energies of souls in physical form; will-o-wisps. The only entities that were able to naturally use it are ghosts and death gods, shinigami. Long ago however, there was a human clan in Gensokyo who tried to harness the power of the dead for themselves, but as a result for their lust for power, their clan simply disappeared after one of their mundane rituals. If only I could remember the name of that clan, maybe I would be closer in unraveling my dream?

"No, I don't know anything about that," Chitose replied as she averted her gaze from my face to the balcony floor.

"Then maybe my dream was but a dream," I said with a small smile as I softly patted Chitose's head. If I was only in hakutaku form right now, I could probably find out what that gate, those ancient spirit channelers, and my student had in common with one another. Sadly, there were only so many full moons in a month, so it looks like I have to wait until next month until I would figure this mystery out.

Night officially started as the yellow lights from the village square gradually opened. The sun had completely lowered under the horizon and it looked like this was a good time for our conversation to end.

"Alright, you're free to go," I said to Chitose. Not wanting to let the child walk alone in the dark, I then added, "Chitose, let me walk you home."

"Thanks for the offer Teacher, but I can manage," Chitose said as she jumped off the railing of the balcony.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" I questioned her with a worried glance.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I have to be an adult! Thank you for the chat," Chitose said with a polite bow. With her dress flying around her, Chitose then took a leap from the balcony and proceeded to run along the dirt trail connecting my school with the village square. I waved goodbye to my student as I kept my eyes fixed on her moving figure on the trail until she vanished under the darkness of night.

"I guess I have some homework," I whispered to myself as a warm gale brushed past my hair. Even though I didn't have the power of my hakutaku form, I could still obtain some knowledge upon that gate and that clan of forgotten spirit channelers. All I needed were some history scrolls and a little motivation to self-study. A small smile formed upon my face; even though I was a teacher, there were still so many things I didn't know.


	3. Chapter 3

Player: Chitose Tonbo  
>World: Gensokyo<br>Location: Dirt Trail, Human Village  
>Time: 9:13 PM<p>

"I-I-Impossible!" I shouted into the night as my feet blazed through the trail connecting the school with the village.

Rei always warned me that it was no good to be thinking and running at the same time, especially at night, but this time, I was practically drowning in my thoughts. How did Ms. Kamishirasawa see our heritage in a simple dream? Will-o-wisps and the Azure Gate; only Rei and I were aware of such things. To my knowledge, Ms. Kamishirasawa was just a smart human girl who decided to run a school in her spare time.

I suddenly pictured my teacher holding a book that was titled Tonbo History 101. With a wide smile, the mental image of my teacher flipped through the book and read about our coveted will-o-wisps and Azure Gates. Did she find some sort of book that had our clan's history in it? I shook my head and then pictured Ms. Kamishirasawa applying a form of water torture on my sister in the classroom during the dead of night. As the imaginary Rei in my mind begged for air, the Keine in my thoughts flashed her a bloodthirsty grin. This Keine had a frightening face, the same face that she wore when a fellow student would forget to do their homework. Or maybe she interrogated Rei before she came back home last nigh-

I barely had any time to dodge a shadowy, medium sized branch that was on the same level as my right cheek. I tilted my head to the left and felt the branch graze against it. Even though it missed by a small margin, the branch was quite possibly the sharpest stick I have ever felt upon my skin. I lost my balance but I still ran with the same chaotic momentum.

"I really have to stop over thinking," I said to myself, "I'll just tell Rei about it when I see her."

I increased my pace slightly as my dress rippled behind me. The reason why I was running so fast was because Rei entrusted me with breakfast in our household. Unfortunately, we ran out eggs and tomatoes with our breakfast for today, so I had to restock. The markets close pretty late during the summer so if I ran as fast as I possibly could, I might be able to buy some more eggs and tomatoes. Just thinking about tomatoes reminded me of Rei as an image of her popped inside my head.

"You're coming of age now Chitose. Don't let me down alright?" the Rei in my head said with an encouraging, radiant smile.

The trail was becoming more winded and twisted; a sign that I was almost at the village. With the waning moon as my sole light source since the trees were blocking the lights from the village, I could barely make out the trail from the dirt. Even with the darkness of night enveloping me, my mind was focused on dodging as many rocks and branches as I could so that I would not waste any time recovering from a fall.

As I was dodging boulders and sticks on the trail, my mind wandered off and I began to think of the Spell Card duels covered in the Bunbunmaru Newspaper. Just like Reimu and Marisa in the photographs, I was dodging any shadowy object that was in my path. I felt invincible as I grazed past almost invisible branches that could have gouged my eyes out. Not even the darkness of night will stop me from reaching the villa-

There was a black patch of complete darkness flying in front of me as the warm summer air swiftly turned into a cold wind. This darkness was completely terrifying; I have never seen such a thing in my life! S-S-Stop. Stop. I had to stop!

I dug my heels into the dirt but the momentum from my running was too strong and it carried me straight into the spherical blob of darkness. My feet were the first parts of my body to be absorbed into the darkness and then my legs soon followed. Cold. My legs were freezing cold. Since there was no other way to change my course, I closed my eyes as my whole entire body fell into the darkness.

"A-Am I going to die?" I whispered as my momentum carried me further inside.

To be honest, the cold actually felt refreshing in this summer heat. I guess I was over exaggerating the way how it felt across my body. "Just like the shade from the tree in front of the school," I thought as I sucked in the refreshing cold air through my mouth. In the midst of my thoughts, my outstretched feet collided into a solid object.

"AAAIIIEEE!" the object and I yelled as we tumbled through the air. The cold air around me dissipated after I made contact with whatever was inside the blob of darkness. As we fell, I couldn't move my arms or my legs as they were locked into place with the appendages of the unknown figure. We soon landed with a loud thud and I found myself looking directly at the night sky. There was a strange weight on the top of my body so I lowered my gaze from the sky to my chest and was greeted by the sight of a young girl. She was breathing lightly and I felt like I've seen her somewhere before.

The moonlight illuminated the figure as a small blonde-headed girl with a strange red amulet on the top of the left side of her hair. She had longer hair than I did and it gently touched the back of her spine. Her eyes were closed and her childish, innocent face reflected the white light from the waning moon above. She also wore a black vest and a black skirt that was the same color as fresh charcoal. To top off her attire, the girl wore a white blouse under her vest that mimicked the color of fading moonlight.

"Rumia!" I said as my eyes opened wide in terror.

This was the same Rumia that Reimu and Marisa had fought during the scarlet mist incident! Despite her childish looks, Rumia was a youkai, a demon man-eater, who would love to sink her teeth into the flesh of a human girl like myself. Not wanting to be a victim of the youkai of darkness, I immediately began to squirm from underneath Rumia's body. Suddenly, Rumia's fingers firmly clenched themselves on the hem of my waist in response to my erratic movement. With a cold sweat dripping down my back, I realized that if I continued to squirm around like this, Rumia would wake up and she would definitely make me her dinner.

"Great," I muttered as I fruitlessly shook my hips side to side.

The only way to get out of this mess was to swiftly lift the sleeping youkai's body with my arms and slip my body out from under her in one quick motion. After I would do that, I would run with all of my energy to the village entrance. My eyes wandered off to the small youkai's oval shaped mouth. I gritted my teeth as I imagined Rumia biting a off a good portion of my chest that she was presently sleeping on. If I were to fail and wake her up, I'm practically hugging her and she would have no problem in eating me.

Nervousness ran through my whole entire body as I felt my heartbeat accelerate almost three times as fast. I wasn't really good in stressful situations and being trapped by a snoozing youkai was probably the epitome of it. One of Rumia's ears was tilted towards my chest and I wondered if she could really hear my heartbeat running amok...

I-I had to stop thinking like this! Escape. That's what I have to do, just focus on escaping. I tried my best to quell my fear and anxiety by taking deep breathes, but my back was still shivering. Now is the best time to escape, before my fear completely takes over me!

* * *

><p>Player: Rumia<br>Time: 9:21 PM

_*thu-mp*_

_*thu-mp* *thu-mp*_

_*thu-mp* *thu-mp* *thu-mp*_

W...Wh...What was that sound? It sounds... It sounds so... Delicious...

I haven't eaten anything today... My stomach hurts so much... Am I holding something in my hands?

It's so hot too... My face is sweaty... Where's my darkness?

* * *

><p>Player: Chitose Tonbo<br>Time: 9:21 PM

"Almost there," I whispered aloud as I slowly lifted up Rumia's body, "Please Rumia, just stay asleep a little while longer!"

I... I was doing it! My plan was working perfectly so far, Rumia never stirred in her sleep unlike before. I just needed to raise her an inch or so above me in order for me to free my legs from under her body. Even though my arms were shaking, the adrenaline flowing through my thirteen year old body allowed me to carry her with ease. I would be out of this mess in no time, but for some strange reason, I felt like I was overlooking an important detail in my escape.

"Eh, no matter," I responded to my thoughts.

Seeing that Rumia was now high enough for me to get out from under her, I pushed off the ground with my now free feet and rolled off to my left. To my horror, Rumia also mimicked my movements as her hands were still clutched on to my clothes and she too, rolled over as well. In the mess of dirt and darkness, I ended up with my stomach to the ground with Rumia riding on top of me, pinning my upper torso with her weight. I tried moving my arms again but they were locked into place.

W-Was Rumia still asleep? Maybe I still have another chance to esc-

"You... You're the one who ran into me huh?" a small, light voice said behind my back.

I wanted to respond to Rumia with a loud scream that I've been holding inside of me, but I stopped myself and instead responded to her in a trembling tone, "Y-Y-Yes... I was the one..."

"Didn't you see me? Oh wait, you humans aren't bird-eyed," Rumia said as I felt her fingers running across the sides of my neck, "That really hurts a lot you know? Well, it's not often that my dinner comes to me so I guess I'll forgive you."

Ack! Dinner!

"Wait, WAIT!" I yelled as her grip around my neck increased in strength. Even though Rumia was smaller than me, her youkai strength was too overwhelming. If I ever had to protect myself against her, a physical approach would just get me killed. What can I do in a situation like this?

Surprisingly, her grip lessened a bit as she said in a whiny voice, "Hmm? Wait for what? I'm hungry!"

Stop panicking Chitose. Think. What did the Bunbunmaru Newspaper say about Rumia's characteristics? I closed my eyes and dove into my thoughts, trying to recall some of the youkai's weaknesses to bring to light. Rumia... Rumia has a one-track mind, flies around in a ball of complete darkness to avoid the summer heat, and she wears a holy amulet in disguise of a hair ribbon that she can never take off all by herself... That amulet! Maybe if Rumia were to touch that amulet, it would stun her long enough for me to get away!

"Well?" Rumia said as I felt her warm breath across the back of my right ear. Ugh. I was sensitive there.

A sugary chill flooded through my body as I stammered, "I-I-I really l-like your ribbon. It's r-really c-c-cute!"

"Is that so?" Rumia responded with a childish laugh, "You're a nice meal!"

Rumia then continued to choke me with even more power than before. I only had enough air inside my brain to focus on one last escape plan before I would black out. My options never looked so grim. I couldn't move, my amulet plan was unsuccessful, and no one walks across this trail at night. Rei arrives at the village at a much later time and Ms. Kamishirasawa was still at the school.

"What would Reimu do?" I thought as I took in a shallow breath of air. Reimu Hakurei would fight Rumia in a danmaku battle using her self-developed Spell Card System. The Spell Card System was the rule of Gensokyo by giving all of its citizens to settle its disputes without lethal force. It even allowed humans like Reimu or Marisa to fight youkai, magicians, shinigami, shikigami, and even gods on fairer terms as most denizens of Gensokyo have frighteningly strong powers. In a Spell Card duel, the opponents would usually fly around to avoid being hit by bullets, but I wonder if I could call upon it as well?

"Ack!" I coughed as the pain from Rumia's grip shook me back into reality. Her fingers were practically digging into my throat, and my vision was going murky.

"R-Rumia..." I whispered with the last bit of air from my lungs.

This time, Rumia didn't loosen her grip as she responded in an annoyed voice, "Huh?"

I opened my mouth, but I found no more air to voice my true intentions. In the place of my voice, I heard a soft wheeze. My eyes opened wide in terror, I was so close to dying! Somehow, my fear of dying enabled me to shout, "S-S-Spell C-Card!"

"I was so close to getting my dinner!" Rumia said in disappointment as she leaped off my body, "Fine, but if I win, you're mine!" I got lucky, even though Rumia was starving; she still had to follow the Spell Card System.

Instead of replying to Rumia, I immediately stood up and began to catch my breath again. The air felt incredible as it flowed through my lungs and my head; I felt much calmer now. With my eyes partially closed, I noticed that I had no way of fighting Rumia in the traditional Spell Card battle. I could not fly and I had no bullets or spell cards to fight Rumia back with since Rei forbade me from using will-o-wisps in public. All I had was my running speed and reflexes. I was basically a target; a fish in a barrel.

With little confidence I finally replied, "If I win, then I'll be on my way..."

In response, Rumia levitated from the ground and aligned herself with the waning moon above while spreading her arms until her body resembled the shape of cross. This was the first time we ever made eye contact and I now noticed her light red eyes as they seemed to glow in the darkness. She then flashed me a playful smile as she jokingly replied, "How can you dodge my danmaku if you can't even dodge me?"

* * *

><p>BGM – Apparitions Stalk The Night .comwatch?v=fd8IHH4Tz20&feature=player_embedded

Spell Cards

Chitose: 0 Rumia: 2

"Why are you just running around down there? Come up here and fight!" Rumia shouted as she conjured an array of bright red bullets towards me.

I jogged to my right and watched in amazement as the crimson wave of bullets whizzed past my head. A solid hit from any fireball that Rumia threw at me would be considered a loss, so I kept my focus on my positioning on the ground floor, avoiding any rocks or branches that might tumble me up as I ran across the trail.

"I can't fly!" I said as I dodged an incoming wave of neon green bullets. Jeez, such brightly colored fireballs! It's like she wants me to dodge her patterns. The speed of the bullets that she was throwing at me did not seem that overwhelming, was she going easy on me?

"You're such a weirdo! No one dodges danmaku while on the ground!" Rumia said as she strangely arched her body downwards and put one of her hands on her stomach. I saw one of her red eyes wince in pain as she threw a rapid-fire assortment of triple red bullets with her free hand.

"Well, I don't really have a choice!" I replied as I squeezed myself around the bullets. The bullets seemed to always be locked on my previous location, so as long as I kept making small movements here and there, I should be able to create openings within her danmaku. Another neon green wave of lights rained down from the sky, but I could see a tiny opening within the bullet wave.

As I moved my legs across the dirt, my foot found itself wedged inside a pothole created by the bullets that Rumia previously fired at me and for a split-second, I couldn't move.

"No wonder everyone flies while they do this!" I thought as I clenched my eyes shut and ducked. The dirt around me exploded in a violent burst and lucky for me, I was already in the safe spot when I was stuck.

I freed my foot from the pothole, wiped the sweat and dirt from my face, and then looked up at Rumia, who was still holding her stomach in pain.

"Graah..." Rumia moaned as she pulled out a paper card from within one of her pockets on her black vest. She then closed her eyes and then placed the card between her pointer and middle finger as she cried aloud, "**Night Sign: Night Bird**!"

The warm air around us immediately shifted to the cold breeze that I felt when I was inside Rumia's blob of darkness. Rumia's spell card then let loose a sinister shadow that enveloped the sky, painting it in a mesh of brown and black puddles. With the light from the waning moon completely hidden by Rumia's darkness, I was unable to see even the ground itself. I bit my lip as I blindly looked at the sky, searching for the youkai's positioning.

"There's no escape!" Rumia's said with anger.

I felt my heart jump as I saw a set of red eyes staring at me from above. Rumia's eyes then flashed with red energy as two streams of light blue and dark blue bullets swarmed their way towards my direction. I was being sandwiched between the bullets and it felt like there was nothing I could do about it. A jolt of pain rushed from my elbow to my brain; a bullet had just physically grazed against itself against my arm.

Rumia was right. Since I couldn't see the ground, I couldn't move anywhere. There was no escape. I winced and took a blind step backwards, avoiding another spray of her spell card's danmaku. I covered my face from the dirt that plopped upwards in front of me as I tried to regain my composure. I took a quick glance at the approaching danmaku and to my surprise, found openings that I could exploit by just taking a step or two.

"Get... hit... already..." Rumia's lethargic voice cried out in the darkness.

"I-I can't just yet! I have groceries to buy and breakfast to make!" I replied as my turned my body to its side, avoiding yet another wave of **Night Sign: Night Bird**. Unfortunately, as I dodged the bullets, a part of my dress got caught on some sort of branch and I ended up falling on my face. What horrible timing! I shielded my head with my hands and awaited the painful jolt of the next danmaku wave to lance me.

A second passed. Then two seconds. And then finally three.

I lucked out again; the next danmaku wave never came.

"W-What?" I said as I immediately freed my clothes from a branch and stood up. The light from the moon was now illuminating the dirt trail with no trace of Rumia's inky darkness to stop it. The air was back to its original summer humidity and the familiar chirping of distant crickets filled my ears. Rumia was no longer in the sky but was... w-was standing directly in front of me.

"Rumia!" I said with surprise as I backpedaled away from her. Rumia could have easily grabbed me from that distance; I wonder why she didn't catch me? My eyes grew more accustomed to the waning moonlight surrounding us, so I focused my vision and scanned Rumia, looking to see if she was going to make a move.

Upon closer inspection, Rumia's face never looked so frustrated as she kept her gaze fixed on the ground. Her playful smile during our short danmaku battle was gone and her lips were quivering. Even in the semi-darkness, I could tell that her face was red with anger. Her hands were clutching her stomach in pain and I could hear her stomach growling... Oh. That was it.

"You... You cheated... Breakfast... Food..." Rumia stammered as the white glint from her moon-reflected tear drops rolled down her cheeks, "Just throwing danmaku at your stupid face made me even hungrier... I'm going to eat someone else..."

Rumia then immersed herself within her ball of darkness and flew off into the night sky, running into every branch, tree, and obstacle she possibly could before she disappeared from sight. Seeing that the danger was over, I fell upon my knees in exhaustion and took a grateful breath of air into my lungs. My body never felt so disgusting as I was covered in dirt and sweat, but I was alive. I still had to buy groceries for breakfast, so I picked myself off of the ground and did my best to fix my hair before I entered continued to walk across the trail again.

"I wonder what will Rei say when I tell her all of this?" I said to myself as the faint smells of the village's food entered my nostrils. Even though I didn't eat lunch today, I wasn't hungry, not one bit.


End file.
